Technical question

If you wanted to write an autobiography, would you have to get permission from everyone you mention to put them in the book? I know you can alter names to get around that, but....sometimes people's names complete the person such that a different name would make them less interesting.

Thoughts? Comment?

A Step Forward

Back in high school I began writing a book. I had been sitting alone at home thinking 'I feel like writing!', so that's exactly what I did. I wrote the first thing that popped into my head and went with it. That led to writing 3 (unedited) chapters of a book that I actually felt really proud of. I brought them to my Writer's Craft teacher and she loved it. She encouraged me to write more, however, that was when the writing stopped.

I had no idea where to take the story. Like many writers, I had written the story loosely based around my own life experiences (loosely). I didn't know where I was going, so how could I know where the story would go? I put it aside and never picked it back up again, but it has been sitting in the back of my mind for years.

Today I decided I was going to do something about it. I was going to deconstruct what I already had written and create a three act plot. It's still very rough, and largely just brainstorming, but now I feel like I've almost got something worth telling. A few more tweaks of the plot points, and planting seeds along the way, and I could potentially start writing it again.

Ideally, I'd like to have the plot worked out in detail with chapter summaries and then edit the first few chapters so they are essentially ready for printing. Then, I'll go around to literary agents and see if anyone's interested. If no one is, I may still write it anyway but at least I'll know that I tried. Regardless of the outcome, however, I am pleased to have taken this small step.

Revivals

Since I did so well the other day with getting back into song writing, I figured I'd get back into other things I used to do, too. So I looked up my old website from high school (http://webs.psychadelia.com) and re-read the first few chapters of that book I started to write. What? I started writing a book? Yes, yes I did, and upon reading it again I realized it's actually vaguely entertaining.

However, I liked it so much that I realized how unlikely it is that I'll be able to write like that again. I've changed far too much as a person to write the same way. And even if I was capable of writing in that style again, I hadn't thought out a plot yet. No plot. No story. Not really even a particular genre yet other than general fiction.

So, how do I proceed? Do I proceed? Is it worth my time to write a book that will likely never get published? Probably not, but if I wrote a book, it might someday get published, right? Probably not, but at least I could say I wrote a book and feel good about myself.

Maybe...if any readers out there would like to go to the aforementioned website, click on 'Book' and read what's there thus far...maybe, offer suggestions for how you'd like to see the book play out? What should happen to Caprice, and what should be revealed during therapy? Feel free to comment.

A Startling Realization

Growing up, I always felt the need to excel at everything. EVERYTHING. Especially things that other people could (seemingly) do so easily. Thus, when my dad bought a boat and tried to convince us all to enjoy water skiing, and then tried to show off as being a 'natural', I felt the need to be EVEN BETTER and get up on my first try from the water. Or when my sister became interested in acting, I had to join the drama club a.s.a.p. and eventually work my way up to being a lead in the school play. Or when my other sister started to learn guitar and then gave it up, I started learning and had to be better than anyone in the family at guitar.

This has been a long standing trend.

This crazy obsession with being the best at everything I do has forced me to do a lot of things, get good enough to declare myself the victor and move on to something else. But along the way, I began to just intrinsically enjoy all of these different things, and now I've got about a million interests and general ability in most things and a passion for all of them. Sounds pretty great, right? Wrong.

Now that it's come time to choose a career, I'm hopelessly stuck. This has become my own personal Buridan's Ass situation. I'm paralyzed with the plethora of options. I've come to the rather upsetting realization that I can't be a singer/songwriter/actor/writer/artist/photographer/psychologist/web designer/interior designer/editor/director/manager/yoga instructor/marketing guru. That's too many slashes! What's worse is as I was writing that, I kept being like 'done' and then going back and adding another and even now I can think of more but I dare not add them to my list of slashy occupations.

I can't do everything, and I can't do nothing, but I can't choose one. So, until I can figure it out...I'm in a band, sent a script to a film studio and am going to continue writing this blog. However, none of these things pay. Not yet anyway. I think that probably the best job for me would be some sort of manager of all things creative, but in order to do that I have to work my way up and start from a specific thing...that's too specific!

So...I'm applying for two jobs at the moment that I would like to get: a program assistant at a community development organization and a management trainee at the new Apple Store opening up in a nearby town. Hopefully both will allow me enough free time to pursue the million and one other things I like. In the meantime, I might get back into photography. It's been too long...